Bill Buckley, liberals' favorite conservative

Commentary: Literate, eclectic, courageous critic dead at 82

By

MarshallLoeb

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- William Frank "Bill" Buckley, Jr., who died Wednesday at 82, was the liberals' favorite conservative.

For one thing, he was a writer for whom the word "prolific" might have been invented. A card-carrying intellectual most famous for having created National Review magazine, the beacon of the Right, nine years after graduating from Yale in 1950, he also was the author of some 40 books (including a few novels). His syndicated column "On the Right" ran in more than 300 newspapers, and Bill Buckley was the Emmy-winning host of the provocative television program, Firing Line.

And Hollywood handsome Bill Buckley was a fabulous public speaker -- my God, how that man could speak. Even if you disagreed sharply with his positions, which were delivered in his slightly nasal tones, you knew that you had to do your homework before you took him on in any kind of debate. He was a font of wisdom, and he knew how to wield the language like a knight's sword.

He came up with such lines as "A conservative is a fellow who is standing athwart history yelling 'Stop!'" and, "I would like to take you seriously, but to do so would affront your intelligence."

He often occupied positions that his fellow conservatives disagreed with, such as "One can't doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed -- different plans have to be made. And the kernel here is the acknowledgement of defeat."

He was eclectic, going so far as to disavow the prohibition of marijuana: "Marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could."

It was rather unsurprising that Buckley died in his study. He was doubtless learning something new or figuring out some snappy way to deliver his own thoughts to an eager audience. Almost certainly now, he will have the last word -- or the last note. Some time ago he said that he would want the music of his revered Johann Sebastian Bach played at his funeral.

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